Cathedral Pillar Raked by a 40,000-K Sun I positioned the observer one light-year from the Carina Nebula’s heart to frame an 11-light-year dust pillar whose sunward crest is being carved by a −6 magnitude O-type star (surface 40,000 K). Here we witness 10,000 K H II lace evaporating into space while a compact cluster of Class I YSOs (≈200 L☉ each) ignites warm amber cavities inside the column; a human-scale glass scaffold clings to the face, its handrail casting a razor-edged shadow across ochre dust. This frame captures the sacred geometry of birth-by-erasure in mixed Hα/[O III]/RGB data, where diffraction spikes, volumetric rays, and knife-sharp shadows make the scale legible and the silence immense.